Button construction for garments and the like



Feb. l, 1949. R. E. TUTTLE BUTTON CONSTRUCTION FOR GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed NOV. 2, 1946 BY /q7 Cy. W

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l BUTTON CONSTRUCTION FOR GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Y Robert E. Tuttle, Wilmington, Del. Application November 2, 194s, Yserial No. 707,496

' (ci. z-sc) My invention relates to garment'fasteners, and

particularly to an improved ornamental and use- `ful type of button construction. Y

i `'Ihe primary object of my invention is to pro-V vide a garment button construction which co- 2 Claims.

operates with a design on the garment to complete the design or render it more attractive. In the case of juvenile clothing, an advantage of my construction resides in the fact that a child will be more conscious of the fact that his clothing is not properly fastened if a prominent portion of the design can be completed only by buttoning the garment.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary View showing a garment buttoned in accordance with my invention, the design of Fig. 1 being of a formal character;

Fig. 2 shows the garment of Fig. 1 as it appears when unbuttoned;

Fig.v 3 illustrates a manner in which the buttons of my invention are utilized to cooperate with an informal, or humorous, design; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a still further modified form of my invention, in which the button construction is utilized to cooperate with a design on a juvenile garment.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, garment III, having overlapping edge II and underlying edge I2, is intended to illustrate a portion of a ladys dress, blouse or wrapper, on which is displayed an ornamental design, such asa ower stem I3. A portion of the design on edge II, however, is incomplete, since the space which should be occupied by a flower on stem I3 is cut to form buttonhole I4, positioned so that when button I5, shaped and colored to form the appropriate flower for stem I3, is inserted through buttonhole I4, the entire stalk, including stem and flower, is completed. Button I5 is attached to underlying edge I2 of the garment in any desired manner, and buttonhole I4 can be positioned horizontally as in Fig. 2, or vertically, depending upon the way in which the inserted button cooperates with the particular design.

The preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates a button which bodily passes through a buttonhole, but it will be apparent that a composite button or other fastener may be employed. Therefore, in the case of many shapes of buttons, it will be necessary or desirable to fabricate the buttonhole large enough to avoid impeding the buttoning operation. This in turn means that the buttonhole may not in al1 cases be concealed by the button.

In order to enhance the appearance of the ensemble where the hole is visible, the buttonhole I4.

is curved as shown in Fig. 2, and false stitching at I6 is added to create a balanced eiect which de-emphasizesthe presence of the buttonhole.

It will, of course, be apparent that a wide range of ornamentations, both for the buttons and for edge II, is possible, and of necessity only a very few are shown. For example, the rose shaped button I5 can be modified to imitate a rosebud I'I, which likewise completes the design I8 of a modified form of stem.

Fig. 3 illustrates how my construction is admirably adapted to provide a humorous effect by shaping the overlapping edge I9 of garmentA 29 to form the trunk 2l of a coconut palm 22. Buttons 23, in the shape of coconuts, appear to be falling upon a reclining figure 24, and it will also be apparent that the head of ligure 24 can be another lower button, if desired.

For juvenilev clothing, it is advantageous, in utilizing my construction, that the button form a relatively more important part of the design. Fig. 4 shows a childs garment 25 having overlapping edge 26 and underlying edge 2'I to which is secured button 28 shaped in the form of a dolls head. Doll figure 29 on overlapping edge 26 is proportioned in accordance with the size of button 28 so that the dolls ligure is complete when the garment 25 is buttoned. When the garment is unbuttoned, the figure appears to be decapitated, and this feature provides an induce- I ment to the child to keep the garment buttoned when in use. For purposes of completely concealing the buttonhole in the construction of Fig. 4, the dolls hood, or cap 30, may be formed from separate material attached to edge 26 around the outer periphery of the head in such a manner that the extending portions of the buttonhole are concealed. A simpler construction is shown in Fig. 4 in which the ends of a conventional straight buttonhole 3| protrude beyond the button to simulate ears or locks of hair, as preferred.

It will therefore be apparent that I have provided a novel button construction which has advantages over and above the mere fastening function of a button. The problem of concealing buttons has been given considerable attention by dress and garment designers, with the result that many types of buttons, ornamental-only in themselves, are now on the market. However, in none of these constructions does the button blend with a design on the garment in such a way as to conceal the fact that the garment has a button 3 at'all. Furthermore, the blending of the button with the garment iigure can be Waccomplished either by the configuration of the button or by Vits coloring, or both. Novel eiects can be obtained by the use of protuberances or indentations on the button as Well.

While certain novel features of the invention are disclosedheizeinswith@,considerabladetail with respect togcertiparticuiar forms of"thefinlvgen;7-

. tion, it is not desired to be limited to such details since many changes and modicationsmay vs/ ell` be made without departure from .the spirit. of, 5

'the invention, and since the 'inventionfhasaiiwidei application both for outdoor andindoor garments' and can be' applied to adult, juvenile ,and-.chil.

drens clothing. The exampleswshownare,illusf( traftive of the above categories'aswellaa of'" clothing adapted for a particular use or occasione Having thus, described? my invention, I claim: The? combination@ in; 'gaimient.c11sn1re s =off.V an omamental-,V riesig-m, one; one e. closure border.; said bordenhaving: elf-plurality: of: buttenhlesamlm Y Y naht-yaoi', ornadmentaliflznittonsfeoiE various designs Orl'rthBnOt-her closure ,L borden; thefoinamentaldef-l with, each,- other tojdisguise the fastener andv .f buttonhole:

ROBERI` E. TUTTLE.

AREFERENCES CITED The following references are ofi record in the fi-Ieofths patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Humbert. A y j Dai-,eil

278,072 Altmark* .May 22,1883 592,200;- Granenv ,Qe,t.19' 1897 D 99,368, Rzaimerf., ....Algw2'1fy 1936 

